Sewing in the rain

With "Frankenstorm" Sandy heading towards the east coast and expecting to hit early this week, there's going to be a lot of rain and heavy winds -- not exactly umbrella friendly weather. We do hope everyone stays safe and damage is minimal. If you're simply waiting out the storm, then it's the perfect season for scavenging broken umbrellas just waiting to be rescued and repurposed.

We have a few old favorite umbrella creations on our website, like transforming them into a skirt or purse. I even have a purse video tutorial from ages ago (please ignore the poor sound quality). And if the frame is salvageable you can turn it into a jewelry and scarf holder like project number 80 in my book ReMake It.

What else can be done with broken umbrellas? These waterproof beauties are the perfect craft material for that rainy day.

Uncommonly Good studio tour!

Uncommon Goods featured a studio tour of me at my workshop at TerraCycle. There's a Q&A of design essentials on their blog and you can read the whole article here.



If you're in the New York City area, be sure to catch me speaking on the panel of their design event at Powerhouse Arena on October 29. I'll be alongside Rebecca Krauss from Eco Biz NYC and the evening will be moderated by the lovely Yuka Yoneda from Inhabitat and Clossette. See you there!

UPDATE: This event was postponed due to Hurricane Sandy. We hope everyone out there is safe and we'll let you know as soon as it's rescheduled.